Forum:References: are they needed?
As you may know, many wikis on Wikia and generally anywhere on the internet use references abundantly in their articles. We currently do not use this feature anywhere on the HOTD Wiki. I know it would be a hassle to go through all of our articles and add references, but it could be worth it as it would make us more credible. A lot of information doesn't really need references as most people reading the articles would already know it, but there are also places where the information isn't as well-known and needs evidence, especially since we no longer directly reference chapters and episodes in the actual content. I f we decide to do this, I think we should do a thorough job. This means having references to every source used in an article and citations at each place the source is referenced. We would obviously have a reference for each chapter and episode, but we may want to split chapters into sections of pages. For example, we could use a new reference each time there is a major scene or setting change in the chapter. Let me know what you think. Keep in mind that the longer we wait, the more work it will be to add the references to all existing content, so I'd like to make a decision soon. Turambar1 ''' 04:02, March 1, 2011 (UTC) Actually, I've been wanting to raise this question since a long time ago. As I read some of the other Wikias such as the To Aru Majutsu no Index Wikia, I noticed all their pages have references to them. Although not done in spectacular fashion, they still at least put the effort into it. I'm not sure if we should put references, but that's obviously a good thing that we should be doing to "confirm" our information. As you've mentioned, we should do this in a thorough fashion, and have a base model for each reference. It'd be good to set up an example of what type of refences we would like to put up. Anyways, I'm "pro" for the reference thing Also, it's as you said. The longer we wait for everyone's agreeement, the more work there will be. Undoubtedly, this action will be the biggest change to the wikia we've done in a while, so we'll be needing everyone's participation. 06:15, March 1, 2011 (UTC) Okay, here's an example of the format I'm thinking we could use: Information from a sourceSource 1. Information from a second sourceSource 2. Information from a third sourceSource 3. Information from the first source again. References Be sure to look at the code view of this page to see how to add the references. The rectangular box above is the scroll box template I created. No matter how long the list of references is, it won't take up any more space than that box. Let me know if you like this format.Turambar1 ' 14:21, March 1, 2011 (UTC) Hmm, so will it become like a box that people can scroll in? I don't know if you get what I mean, but what if we have more references than we can place in that box? I certainly hope it's just an "expandable" box though... 05:07, March 3, 2011 (UTC) It's a scroll box, meaning the box will stay the same size, but a scroll bar will appear when the list is long enough. Also, I think it may start a second column when it gets long enough to have a scroll bar. The purpose of it is that it can have an unlimited amount of information added without taking up much space.'Turambar1 ' 18:50, March 3, 2011 (UTC) Oh Okay, then that's perfect! I just hope the box won't have too much references in it that we'll have to scroll forever to see a certain reference. Perhaps you should set the font size as well? 06:05, March 4, 2011 (UTC) We could either put "small" tags around the names of the sources, or we could use the "reflist" template instead of the "reference" tag to make the font smaller and add columns if we want.'Turambar1 ' 13:42, March 4, 2011 (UTC) I don't think columns are good, as most sites I see don't really have columns added. Maybe we should just stick with your reference box for now and once the need arises, which is probably going to take at least a year, we can then discuss what to do 04:46, March 6, 2011 (UTC) All right, I'll get started on the references when I have time. I'll definitely need some help though. I may just do around one large page or a few small pages per day for now.'Turambar1 ''' 05:22, March 6, 2011 (UTC) Alright, I obviously understand this will be a huge project that we'll be undertaking. I'd recommend doing the main characters first, because if we do one, then we'll at least have over 75% of the references for some of the other main characters. I wouldn't waste too much time on the minor pages just yet because sourcing for all their references can take a while. Btw, remember to post it on the community board thing 00:37, March 8, 2011 (UTC)